Turkey to construct two motorways linking Belgrade with Sarajevo

The project to build two highways from Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was agreed last March by the Turkish and Serbian presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Alexandar Vucic, has begun to take shape. Serbian Infrastructure Minister Zorana Mihajlovic and President of Turkish Construction Company Tash Yapi, Emrualh Turanli, signed today in Belgrade a contract for the planning and construction of a section of the 17km long motorway. The contract concerns the part of the so-called northern motorway from Kuzmin to Sremska Raca, on the border with Bosnia. The total cost of this department is EUR 250 million, and a bridge on the Sava river is included in this price. Construction will begin in early 2020.

The Belgrade-Sarajevo road link foresees, as Erdogan-Vucic agreed, two motorways north and south, both leading to the capital of Bosnia. The decision to build two motorways instead of one that would fully serve the traffic needs between the two countries was taken on a political basis. In order to connect with Sarajevo the Muslims living in Sandak in southwest Serbia, Erdogan decided to build two motorways. This is why much of the project will be financed by Turkish banks, while construction will be undertaken by Turkish companies.

The total length of the parts within Serbia for both motorways will be 77 km and the cost of their construction will be around EUR 1.05 billion./IBNA